The material is already paid for with your regular front panel. No need to charge you twice ;-) However the setup of the sides is a little more effort. You can see that in the different amount for preparing and finishing in the pricing.

I am looking for the read me or user manual for this program I downloaded through the HBT site. Is a manual available and I am overlooking it or is it online somewhere? TIA for any direction you folks have.

Front Panel Designer has an online help menu. You will be able to access it as soon as you have installed the software.

I am sorry for the late response. Please let me know if you have any further question. Our forum is the perfect platform to discuss questions about Front Panel Designer or our machining service more in detail.

Would it be possible to add a feature where I can import a file in some format (for example, comma-separated value table) that contains X,Y coordinates for holes? Many panels I design require fairly a large number of holes and the possibility of making a mistake goes up when manually entering them.

Ideally, I'd like to see the ability to read in a CSV table that has X,Y locations and hole attributes (diameter, threaded, countersunk) and the software will add these holes to the current design.

Logos can only be imported as vector graphic (hpgl file in plt format). As the graphics are engraved on the plates and not printed, a few characteristics in the generating of HPGL files need to be considered to obtain optimal results. Take a look at our tips on how to make engraveable HPGL files.

You can also send us your logo in tif format and have us convert it for you. We charge 180USD per logo from bitmap to engraveable vector.

I am designing a 6RU 19" rack panel. When I add the system holes, four holes appear in the four corners of the panel but I need to add more standard size rack holes on each side. Generally, a 6RU rack panel has four holes on each side and not just two. Ideas on how to add these?

Front Panel Designer lets you choose from two rack mount panel system suppliers, Schroff and Fischer. Both have two mounting holes on each side of a 6U panel. The additional drill holes are for the handles.

However, you can copy or move everything that is on your design. Those system holes are a template and you can even delete parts of it.

Let me know what spacing you need between the holes. I can help you with the design.

My rack panel is nearly complete. I did notice that one of my 3" holes will not exactly center in line with the other three. It's off by about one pixel and no amount of movement will get it on the exact center line with the other holes. Does the software have a "snap to" function like some other CADD programs? If not, I'll just start over by deleting, then addding. Many thanks!

There is a snap on function for new placed objects. But I recommend to activate the 'Object Properties' window. You can find it in the toolbar under 'View'

This will show you all relevant info of an object once selected. The first two entries in the object properties show you the X and Y coordinates. Those can be edited and allow you to align everything to each other perfectly.

One other nagging question. Under panel properties, I have selected a 6RU height standard rack size. I thought that a EIA standard 6RU rack is precisely 19" wide by 10.5" in height. But when selecting the program's pre-determined 6RU height, the panel dimensions are 19.0157" wide and 10.4665" in height. Sure, just a fraction off but is there a reason for this discrepancy? Thanks!

I believe this may be a correct answer to the question as it relates to EIA RU height, but not the 19" width discrepancy:

"Typically, a piece of equipment being installed has a front panel height 1⁄32 inch (0.031 inches / 0.787 millimetres) less than the allotted number of "Us." Thus, a 1U rackmount computer is not 1.75 inches (44.5 mm) tall but is 1.719 inches (43.7 mm) tall. 2U would be 3.469 inches (88.1 mm) instead of 3.5 inches (88.9 mm). This gap allows a bit of room above and below an installed piece of equipment so it may be removed without binding on the adjacent equipment."